There was a time
by Yorushike
Summary: Almost a year ago she had helped him escape from a fate worse than death. Would this good deed come to hunt her now that he had found her? But why was he interested in her anyways? Had he discovered what had led to her life on the streets of Seattle? Left at the mercy of the clan of vampires he belonged to, she feared the worst. Bella/Edward AU
1. Prologe

Normally she didn't come here. It was nothing but desperation and the rain that drove her to the small hole in the fence, not far from the main gate which proudly proclaimed the land behind it to be „private property". Not that anyone of proper authority cared enough these days about who came and went to keep the old security cameras - at least those that hadn't been destroyed by natural or less natural causes - running. No, not police or security worried her, neither would ever visit these desolated parts for anything less than a body. What worried her was the lack of them.

Normally, with weather like today's and especially since her jacket had been taken, she would have hidden in one of the shelters scattered around town; her status as both young and female generally finding her a sympathetic ear even if she shouldn't have gotten in officially. Not that being there was much better than being outside. Yes it was relatively safe and even more importantly warm, but the volunteers' smiles were too large and the workers moods too grim. So whenever weather and clothing permitted she did her best to stay away from what she had dubbed the hatchery of insanity. She knew it wasn't fair, that those people simply wished to help, but there was nothing more degrading than to play the role of the failure that was beyond saving - or even worse, who had to be saved – in front of this odd mix of desperate to help and simply desperate. Ironically even begging seemed less humiliating to her – maybe she was more used to it.

Today though neither being female nor lacking in proper clothing had gotten her into the shelters. The weather had been crazy all week and the logical consequence had been very swarmed quarters. Only the sunshine shelter would have taken her, but there was no way that she would stay in one room with _them_. Not even if it was freezing and storming outside.

So here she was, clumsily making her way into one of the few other dry places in the outer parts of Seattle that her kind could hide in. She couldn't help chuckling despite the less then pleasant situation. Her kind. If anyone asked for a description of her kind than most would speak of an unwashed male, maybe with a few tattoos, several plastic bags in hand and if very lucky even with some form of trolley. His clothing would be described as dirty, old and ripped, his face as unshaven and his dark hair too long.

Obviously she wasn't male even though sometimes she wished she were, it would certainly make some things easier and less dangerous. Her hair was long and greasy, but it was halfway diligently kept thanks to a broken hairbrush that no one else had had any interest in. It could have used a proper trim, but she thought that all in all it wasn't too bad. Her clothing was a bit ripe, but during her stay in her personal luxurious hotel three days ago she had had a chance to get them washed, which made them a great deal cleaner than she could hope for.

However even as a halfway clean female, she would have been easily categorized as one of them, if only she had had some of those telling plastic bags. Those essential pieces of their general uniform however were lacking. Two days ago, given the choice between a knife in her stomach and no bags or no knife in the stomach and also no bags, she had quickly agreed to part with her few „valuable" possessions. Thus her need to enter said private property.

The old brick buildings had been abandoned sometime after the big boom in the seventies and since remained empty. Miraculously surviving the large earthquake in 2001 they were now a hiding place for the most desperate. Why the most desperate?

Because it was gang territory. Despite having lived on the streets of Seattle for a lengthy period of time she had never gotten involved enough in the on goings of said streets to know much about the different gangs. So far simply knowing where not to go, had been plenty of information. Most, especially women, were organized in some way or at least had some connections. She had been careful to never meet anyone frequently, which was surprisingly hard to do despite Seattle's size.

That these buildings were gang territory and as such off limits to simple folk however was well known and those few that ventured anyways were either just as desperate as herself or spoiling for a fight. Not a good place to be as a single, small woman who also happened to be a complete klutz. The only way she would ever hurt an attacker was by accident and chances were that she would rather hurt herself.

None the less she had been on the street long enough to also realize that getting soaked all night long without a chance to warm up afterwards in the middle of winter, was a certain way to end up dead and she had enough spark left to not go down without a fight. She had promised herself long ago that she wouldn't let anyone get her down that low and she intended to keep that promise. So here she was, entering the most forlorn of the four buildings, hoping against hope that she would find a dry, quiet corner and maybe even something that would help her stay warm for a little while. As long as she managed to leave the next morning again halfway untouched though she would have counted it as a success.

The inside of the former warehouse looked about as inviting as the outside had. The walls were smeared with gravity and the old windows that had once covered large parts of the ceiling had been mostly broken, creating a thick layer of glass on the floor. From her rare visits before today she remembered that there were several niches though, which had once served as additional small storage rooms since the buildings had been built at a time, when even warehouses had to seem appealing.

She was surprised though, when she noticed a tarp over one of them that hadn't been there last time. A tarp was a bad sign. It didn't come to be where it was on its own and as such had to have been placed there by someone, especially since it seemed to be rather professionally secured over the entrance of the niche. Not the work of another homeless, trying to create a more permanent shelter for themselves, which meant that there most likely wasn't anyone hiding in there right now. If said someone had any intention of coming back though, she was doomed. Before she could reconsider her stay though, the storm broke out in earnest and the decision was taken from her. Figuring that if whoever had placed the tarp there came back today, as unlikely as it was in this weather, she would be doomed anyways she decided to at least make use of the nicely sectioned off space and try to keep halfway dry. The large plastic bag that she had pulled over her clothing to keep dry wouldn't protect her from the weather much longer. Moving the stones that held the tarp fastened to the ground, she crawled underneath only to stop abruptly.

She didn't know the buildings well enough to be able to claim that there hadn't been a trap door anywhere in the storehouse during her last stay, she knew enough however that it would certainly not be free of the dust and grime that resided everywhere else in the building. Whether here originally or placed at a later time the door in the ground had been opened recently. Slowly beginning to freak out and cursing her – as always - terrible luck, she considered her options, which weren't many.

She could sit on the mysterious door, praying all night that it wouldn't suddenly open to reveal some serial killer or another, she could run screaming and catch her death in the storm outside or she could take a look. Just a really quick one mind. Just to make sure that no monsters were lurking under her chosen bed of the night.

Some might have defined the choices slightly differently or set their priority a bit more traditionally, but she had been on the street long enough to realize that tradition was overrated and choices were just an excuse to try to escape the inescapable. So, pressing her ear to the small metal door, she tried to hear if anyone was below her. She couldn't make out a sound, but between the metal door and the rain outside that was less then surprising. The door was unsurprisingly heavy and it took her some time to open it quietly. Just as she had finished flipping it open an especially strong strike of lightning gave her barely enough light through the cracks in the wall and the tarp to recognize a small room below her. By it's shape and it's seemingly rather old design - really who used brick stones anymore to build anything underground - she figured that the room had most likely been constructed together with the rest of the building. Perhaps an old coal storage room? One of the kind underground so that the coal could simply be poured into it when it was delivered? Or maybe not. She honestly had no idea.

The next lightning gave her another rather rough outline of the room and the sight of something that should decidedly not be there. Legs. Two human, unmoving legs. Two human, unmoving legs that seemed to be chained to the floor.

Deciding that this had gotten strange and dangerous enough to warrant the use of her treasured small flashlight she gently plucked it out of her pocket. Generally she tried to safe the one set of batteries that was available to her as much as possible so that she would have a light in case of emergencies, but she figured that if this wasn't an emergency then nothing was. She placed the light between her teeth and dropped into the small room. It was barely high enough for her to have to jump: When standing straight, all of her head reached out of the trap door, making a quick escape from the room easily possible.

The light of her flashlight did indeed reveal a human body in very thick chains. Every part of his - for it was most certainly a man – body was fixed to the ground he lay on. He was so pale and had yet to open his eyes, that she was almost convinced that she had found a dead body. Just to confirm her conclusion she touched his leg gently. The jeans he must have worn at some point had been shredded, barely keeping his private parts hidden. However in the moment she had decided that this man most certainly was dead because of his utterly freezing skin, two black orbs were slowly focused on her.

Gasping the young woman quickly moved away from the strange being she had found. For quite a while neither seemed to be able to form a coherent word, instead opting to simply stare at each other. Finally the woman spoke with a surprisingly steady voice:

"I know what you are."

* * *

Hi and welcome to my second fan fiction on .

For all those of you who aren't reading Jasmine: I love characters and character development as well as a good plot line. Sadly I suck at humor. Logical consequence: My stories are rather serious and the romance often slow paced. I will try to move a bit faster than in Jasmine, when it comes to romance, but well... it won't be fast. Also I will give you the same warning I have given at the beginning of Jasmine. I can't and don't want to write lemon. So if you came here for some hot action between the sheets, you know how to exit the page :).

For all of those who are reading Jasmine: Don't freak out. Jasmine will take priority, when it comes to updates so don't worry.

Now in general: This little plotbunny has been chasing me and won't let go. The consequence? I just had to write it out. Whether this becomes just a short story or a proper one is heavily depending on what all of you think :). I'll be honest enough to admit that I was never a large fan of Twilight. In fact I enjoy the fanfiction often a lot more than the original. Too many holes for my taste... . So far I have never written anything that didn't come from a universe I absolutely adored, so this will be interesting writing. None the less I will do my utmost to keep everything as close to the original as one possibly can in an AU. If I ever do anything really OOC or break some Vampire rule, feel free to point it out to me. I will do my best to fix it.

Well that's it from my part for now. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Greetings Yorushike

P.S.: I have been playing around with the summary a bit, sorry about that; hope it didn't lead to too much confusion...


	2. Greetings

He had been trying desperately to find a way to keep track of the time or perhaps even figure out where he was, when he had heard movement overhead. However despite the sounds which seemed to be made by a human his vampiric sixth sense was telling him that they could not be coming from a human being. If it had been someone with a functioning mind than said mind would have alerted Edward of the persons presence long before the sounds in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Closing his eyes he sighed quietly. By now he almost hoped that someone would come to question him, even if that would certainly lead to pain as he refused to answer. At least it would be a distraction from the terrible hunger that clawed at him from the inside. Yes he had better control and endurance then most of his kind, developed thanks to years of practice, but even he had his limits. In fact they had been surpassed quite a while ago. He would guess weeks, but without a clock or any other indicator of time, it could have been far longer, or shorter for that matter.

Having dismissed the noise above, he was shocked, when the trapdoor was suddenly opened. Quickly closing his eyes, the vampire hoped that the old trick would give him the short breather he needed to organize his thoughts. Even if people knew that he was a vampire and as such could neither sleep nor faint, they still had a tendency to think that he was somehow not present, if he pretended not to be. Of course it wouldn't take long for them to figure out what he was doing, but he wouldn't need long to get a better grasp of the situation.

He was still chained to the floor, too weak to do much at all and now obviously had company. Company that for some reason he couldn't hear. What use was a "gift" like being able to read someone else's mind, when the one time he really needed it, it failed? All of those annoying humans that surrounded him constantly, never giving him a moment of peace, that he had tried to shut out so desperately had still managed to worm their way into his mind. He seemed incapable of blocking even his family, which had led to quite a few uncomfortable situations, but of course his kidnapper would be impossible to read.

A light touch to his leg ripped him from his thoughts. Deciding that the time to asses and consider was over, Edward snapped his eyes open. His enhanced sight made it possible to study the young woman in front of him quite clearly, despite the flashlight directed towards him. She had obviously had a hard time these last few months, as her clothing seemed old and his nose complained from it's lack of freshness. Having missed quite a few meals made her too thin for her own good and the plastic bag that covered her spoke of missing rain equipment despite the terrible weather. Not what he had expected to be his chief interrogator. More on par with his expectations was the determined look in her eyes and the tone of her voice. The words she chose though through him off once more:

"I know what you are."

When taking in her appearance he had hoped that small as the chance was he had been discovered by someone not involved in his kidnapping. Someone who would assume him to be human and would be willing to either help him out of his chains or at least call the police. He had even felt bad for the poor soul, as he was uncertain how well his instinct control would work at the moment.

Now though it seemed that his hope had been in vain. He still doubted that his discoverer was involved with his abductors, otherwise she would have been better dressed and most likely wouldn't have stated the obvious but rather launched right into whatever it was she wanted, but all hope that she would help him was squashed. Which human would help a vampire, after all? Doing his best not to breath in so that he wouldn't smell her blood and risk growing crazy with thirst he studied her. Would her involvement make it possible for Alice to finally get a vision of where he was? But that was unlike, otherwise the Cullens would have already come for him. Besides, if his gift didn't work on her for whatever reason, what were the chances that Alice's would?

"So what am I?" He baited her, hoping to learn something more from her. Perhaps she was nervous enough to start rambling? Her heart was certainly beating quickly enough.

"Vampire," was all she said. Well so much for his chances that she would ramble or had simply come to the wrong conclusion. Nodding resignedly he tried questioning her further: "What are you going to do about it?"

Lightly bending her head as if the different perspective might help her figure out a very difficult puzzle, she answered: "What do you think?"

Wishing he wouldn't have to draw another breath to be able to continue their conversation, Edward smelled the delicious fragment of her blood, his body immediately straining against the bonds holding him. "I think that something is keeping you from running screaming from the room." He would have to be careful to breath as little as possible or he might just loose all sense.

"Your eyes, they are black." Somehow it felt more like a question than an actual statement.

All right, that he could work with. "Yes. Only the eyes of a vampire who feeds on human blood are red. If a vampire lives off of animal blood or hasn't fed recently we have different colors."

The woman chuckled shortly and straightened her body. "And I suppose you will claim that black is the color for everyone who doesn't feast on humans? I'm not born yesterday."

"I never claimed you were. In fact black is the color for a starving vampire. If I had recently fed on an animal they would be golden."

Her disbelieve was easy enough to notice. "I have never even heard of a vampire that lives off of animals."

"Because there aren't all that many of us."

"So if I were to untie you right now, you wouldn't jump my bones?"

And there she was at the crux of the matter, wasn't she. If he had cared a little less, if he had believed in himself a bit more, he might have simply told her yes. As it was however, not even the thirst could make him lie to the innocent before him, because innocent she was. Even though he couldn't read her, she could not be involved in the group that had led to his current predicament. Her gestures and tone of voice were too honest, too afraid and yet curious to be those of even a very good actor. You couldn't fake your heart beat after all. Of course he couldn't be certain, not the way he could be when he read a mind, but he had always been good at judging characters and she simply didn't seem fake. So he decided to be truthful as well, even if it cost him his rather unlikely ticket to freedom. "No, I probably would. Just because I normally try to live off of animals doesn't mean that I would be able to control myself starved as I am. In fact it's rather likely that I would attack just about anything with even a drop of blood in their body right now."

"You seem rather coherent for a starved vampire in one room with a human that he can't reach."

He smiled widely, displaying his perfect white teeth. "I don't know how you know so much about us, or even anything at all really, but I suppose that is one way to put it. Abstinence does have it's perks though they are far and few in between."

"So the logical consequence is that I hightail my ass out of here and make sure to never come back," was her quiet, almost hesitant reply. So far her voice had always been firm and clear. Why would it change now, when she had simply announced the obvious?

"I suppose so."

Something seemed to keep her from leaving, making her question him further: "So, will your captors come back?"

"I wouldn't know." Why start lying now, when he hadn't done so before. After all, what could the harm be in that?

The reply seemed to unsettle her however and she began chewing on her lower lip. "How long have you been down here?"

"Again, I wouldn't know. Not like I have a clock or a window to measure time. Maybe a few days, maybe weeks."

Nodding as his reply obviously made sense, she hesitated before continuing with her questions. "The only way to kill one of you is to rip you apart and burn you, right?"

She sounded innocent enough, but Edward grew uncomfortable none the less. Why would she want to know what would kill him unless she had plans. Maybe she was considering if she should use this as a chance to take some revenge? Not like he knew for what, but a human that could recognize a vampire as quickly as her - or even knew that they existed – had to have met one of them at some point. Chances were that they hadn't been of the good kind and as such she had some reason for revenge against his species.

Realizing his discomfort at her question she ducked her head sheepishly and apologized: "Sorry, I guess that's a bit of a creepy question to ask, isn't it? All I meant was that you can't starve, right?"

Not seeing the harm in answering this, the vampire nodded: "We can feel starved and believe me it's less than pleasant, but we can't actually die from lack of blood."

"So you will be here until whoever stuck you here decides to come and get you."

Not liking the rather bleak outlook this provided, Edward replied quietly: "Or until someone else finds me."

"Someone who is inclined to open those chains, only to be made into the celebratory snack."

"If they are human, then most likely yes."

Her eyes widened and he couldn't help but be impressed by her deductive abilities despite the rather unusual and probably frightening situation. "So there is someone not human out there looking for you? Someone you wouldn't mind if they came and got you?"

What was her point? He really wished that he could peak in her mind for just a few minutes. If only he had a few seconds to make sure that she wasn't one of them. "What about you? Won't anyone come looking for you if you don't leave this little hole pretty soon?" Maybe not the best distraction, but it seemed to work well enough as she considered her answer for a few moments.

"They'll look no matter where I am though I would prefer not being found." Under her breath she added a quiet "even if it's a shitty life" that obviously hadn't been addressed to him.

Something in her honest answer made him nod his head and admit quietly: "Yes there is someone looking for me, whom I wouldn't mind finding me."

She seemed almost disappointed. As if the fact that even a Vampire had someone who cared for them increased her own lack of companions only all the more.

"So what would they do, if someone dropped them a hint as to where you are?"

This definitely caught Edwards attention. Was she honestly offering to call someone for him? "They would investigate and get me out of here once they actually find me."

"And they would make sure that you don't have a snack on your way back to where you came from?"

"Yes. I'm weak enough that they wouldn't have any trouble restraining me." That might be a bit of a white lie. They most certainly would have some difficulties holding him back, but between Carlisle, Jasper and Edward they would manage.

"So just hypothetically: If someone were to get a phone number from you, they would come for you as long as they are given some reason to believe that this isn't some elaborate trap?"

No point in telling her that they would probably even come if it most definitely was an elaborate trap. For a moment he considered his answer. Was this a ploy to get the rest of the clan to come here so that they could be killed or even worse, captured as well? But there would be easier ways to draw them out. His clan was known for being rather closely knit after all. Maybe if he gave a bit of a warning to them that he wasn't actually certain of the reliability of his messenger? They had an emergency number, which was close to impossible to trace and that he was certain was still active, independent from the amount of time since his disappearance. They knew that said number would be his only way of contacting them after all. Everyone in the clan knew the number by heart. Still, could he risk it? But then, what choice did he have?

* * *

Hi,

the second chapter in this story. I'm enjoying this universe far too much I fear :). Not sure if I'm up to another full scale story at the moment, but we will see. Would love to hear what you all think of this chapter, greetings

Yorushike


	3. phone calls

Why had she had to open her mouth? Why couldn't she have just run screaming from the room and never come back? Or even better high tailed out of the building as soon as she had seen the strange tarp. But no, not her. That would have been too simple. She had to blurt out that she knew that vampire weren't just a pretty fairy tail.

And now she had promised to call another group of clearly not restrained vampires and tell them where he and in consequence she was. She could of course simply ignore her promise, but she was rather sure that she was screwed either way. If she didn't call, chances were that whoever had locked the vampire in the cellar, would come back at some point and would notice the foreign smell she had left behind.

Chances that a group consisting of only humans had both prepared the room and actually caught a vampire? Maybe 0.1%, if she was lucky? Chances that said group simply wouldn't come back before the smell disappeared? Even lower. Actually capturing and successfully holding a vampire was too difficult, too risky to simply let him rot afterwards. No they were coming back and they would not like that some strange human had seen their dirty little secret. Most likely they would be more than happy to hunt her to the ends of the world to make sure that their hidden prisoner stayed just the way he was.

That left her with calling a group of strange vampires with even stranger habits and telling them just exactly where their supposed comrade currently resided. They of course would realize that she knew what they were, which most likely meant that she would be chased by a group of vampires just the same. They were after all ridiculously strict with their secrecy. Given the choice between being hunted by an unknown group of unknown beings - not that it mattered if they were vampires or werewolves – that wanted her dead for knowing too much and a group of supposedly not aggressive vampires whom she had helped, well that really wasn't such a hard decision to make – even if it meant loosing her 3 dollars emergency fund.

Yes, 3 dollars as an emergency fund were pathetic. She knew that, no need to point it out. Yes they wouldn't have gotten her far in a true emergency anyways, but it was more the feeling of having something, that she craved. After this phone-call she would have lost even these last meager possessions. As if she hadn't lost enough in the last little while. Especially the jacket had been a hard blow.

The rain ripped her from her musings as she remembered that she was standing outside, getting soaked. The worst of the storm had passed, but it was still cold and even though the rain had lessened her plastic-bag didn't offer the kind of protection she would need to actually stay dry for any period of time in this weather.

Slowly pushing the coins into the mouth like opening of the machine in front of her, she took one last fortifying breath, remembering the true reason why she had in the end decided to help. Because in the end it hadn't been any of the logic above that had made her talk to the vampire in front of her. It had been his control. Despite being obviously starved and suddenly having a living blood bank of special quality before him, he hadn't gone crazy like she would have expected. If his explanation for his black eyes had been true and that was rather likely, then she had never met a vampire that wasn't at least decently fed. But even fed none of them would have been able to stay that calm and controlled when having her alone in such a small room. And if he truly did not hunt humans than how could she refuse to help? How could she let an innocent get hurt if she could do something to change it?

The first beeping noise was made shortly after she had put in the number. Hopefully she hadn't made a mistake dialing, her money would barely reach as it was. Only two beeps later a musical, male voice answered. "Edward?" It seemed slightly out of breath and definitely excited.

"No, sorry." Okay, either she had dialed wrong after all or the vampire downstairs was called Edward.

"Who are you? What did you do to him?" Asked the now not so friendly voice. This had been a bad idea.

"Listen, I don't know who you are and I don't have much time. I'm calling on behalf of someone else. He said that I should talk to his mothers doctor. He said that he would most likely answer the phone. I don't know who that is, but I really need to speak to him." Could she have made that sound any crazier?

Ironically this seemed to make sense to the man at the other end though, as the other man sounded slightly more friendly, when responding: "You are speaking to him."

That was easier than she had expected. She had almost feared that she would be ridiculed for her nonsensical request. "All right, so far so good. This is all going to sound really crazy, but just bear with me, all right? I need you to tell me the time she had after her wish."

"64 minutes."

This was getting really creepy. None of the things she was saying made any sense to her at all, but the Vampire had said that the man at the other end would say exactly that. Not a bit over one hour; no, exactly 64 minutes. If he said anything else she was supposed to hand up. Of course he hadn't told her what to do then, but she figured that he would expect her to not come back and he was probably right.

Well luckily it was a moot point now.

"He is in the industrial district in the abandoned factory complex at the corner of St Andover street and the seventh avenue."

"What city?" Was the calm response.

All right, she hadn't expected that. They weren't even sure in which city he was? His abductors had to be good. Very good. "Seattle."

Her only response was a choking noise that somehow didn't seem to come from the man she had been talking to so far. Too high, too distinctively female. He had the phone on speaker? Was he human after all?

"Was that all he said you should tell us?"

She was grateful for the man's businesslike attitude. She really didn't have the time for small talk. It had been not even a minute since she had begun talking to him, but her first dollar was almost used up. They had to be somewhere quite a ways away for it to be this expensive. Well at least it would give her time to run.

"No. I don't have much time left, but he said to tell you that he was hoping that the bear brought more of a hard edge than the starting unit. No idea what that's supposed to mean, but he was insistent that I tell you that."

"All right, thank you very much." Somehow the man didn't sound like he really knew what that was supposed to mean either. "You don't know how much this means to us, miss. Is there anything else you could tell us that might help?"

She was surprised by that question. She had expected to either be grilled on who she was or how he was first. It also unsettled her that he had been able to guess that she was still rather young. She didn't think her voice sounded particularly young.

"Well, he hasn't" - how to put this diplomatically? - "had a decent meal in a while, so he might be in a bit of a foul mood."

She could hear loud, booming laughter from the other end of the line. That was decidedly not the voice of the man she had been talking to.

"You can find him in the most desolate building. Just look for a tarp."

"We will."

Deciding that she would rather hang up now, while she still had one dollar to her name, she ignored all polite behavior and simply hung up. No sense in wasting her time and money on something so meaningless. She had done what she had promised she would and that was it. Now it was time for her to disappear and preferably rather quickly too. The more time she could put in between them and herself the better were her chances of actually seeing another summer.

She shuddered. There were few things as bad as hitchhiking, when one obviously looked the part of homeless. None of the decent people stopped for a dirty, strangely dressed woman on her own. Whether it was the fear that she smelled or that she would try to earn a few bucks that kept them away, she had never managed to catch a decent ride when looking as she did. If she were lucky the driver was decent enough to take her where she wanted to go and even treat her acceptable once they were done. If he - for it almost always was a he - wasn't … well it wouldn't be the first time.

Even just four years ago, she would have been horrified by an attitude like that. Would have called someone, who would be willing to trade a ride for her pride a whore, but that had been before. Before she had realized how a ride could safe your life. Just how inconsequential such a shallow pride was. She was still proud, just about different things. It didn't matter to her any more, if someone had gone to a famous college or not. Having money was no longer enough to make someone worth something. Doing volunteer-work did not make one a good or even decent person.

The only thing that matter for your pride was what you decided mattered. She had long ago decided that she was proud that she was still alive. She was proud that she hadn't done any serious drugs despite plenty of offers. She was proud that she hadn't pissed herself when meeting a vampire, even if he was chained. Of all of this she was proud.

What she had to do to do those things though didn't matter. At least she told herself so.

But relocating wasn't just bad news because of the ride that she would need to get there. It meant figuring out the lay of the lines in yet another city. Figuring out where the shelters were, which shops threw out overdue food in the trashcan at the back entrance and even were she would get the most money begging was easy enough. Figuring out were the invisible borders lay though was a lot harder. Certain bands or groups had no problem with you being in their territory, not even minding if you stole a bread or an apple every once in a while, while others would hunt you on sight. Sometimes staying somewhere was fine as long as you never entered the territory two blocks down the street.

All these rules that didn't matter to "normal" people mattered once you got involved with them and involved she would be. There was simply no way not to be when living on the streets on your own as a woman. Of course large parts of most cities didn't "belong" to anyone, but at times these areas were the most dangerous. If a gang that felt secure in it's territory controlled a certain strip than that often made said area safer rather than more dangerous for her. There really was simply no way of knowing beforehand, were the going was good.

Since there was no big sign at the entrance to each district announcing whether homeless women were welcome and halfway safe or not, she would have to figure it out on her own. A long an tedious process, if there ever was one.

* * *

Hi,

I would love to hear what you all think. For all of those who were confused by the thing Edward asked her to say to Carlisle: There is a PlayStation game called Tactical Rescue Assault Group: Mission of Mercy (T.R.A.G.) which is also called Hard Edge. In this game a team is send in to safe some hostages, but everyone is caught in a trap and only two survive. Is the game any good? I have absolutely no idea, but with as much as certain boys like to play I figured that it would be good code.

The area named does in general exist in Seattle, it simply doesn't look the way I described it at all. (Thank you Google Street View :) ).

All right that's it for now,

greetings Yorushike


	4. meetings

A little warning beforehand: There are several references to several disturbing topics such as drug abuse, rape, etc. mentioned in this chapter (and will continue to be so in the rest of the story). I will do my very best to keep this T rated, inexplicit and actually realistic, but I understand that such topics are not for everyone. If anyone feels uncomfortable with mention of societies darker side, please stop reading now.

* * *

She could hear them, crashing through the trash cans not far from her hiding point between an emergency escape ladder and an electricity box. It wasn't hard to guess that one of them had seen her. Not hard to imagine what they would want from her once they found her. Searching desperately for anything she could find, anything at all, that might help her fight them off, she knew that even armed with something heavy to hit them with she would not stand any chance against four men.

When she had come to the back of the bar, she had hoped to find some left overs in the garbage. Ever since her forced move from Seattle things had only continued to become worse and these days she didn't even dare beg anymore. Normally, before moving to a new town she would assemble a small fund so that she could spent a few days laying low and sniffing out the situation before actually getting involved in the street life. This time of course that hadn't been possible. Sadly her ride here almost ten months ago had turned out an even worse pick than her previous ones. She had been planning to continue with the middle aged man in his beat up Toyota until his final destination in Medford and catch another ride from there to put as many miles between herself and the strange vampires as possible, but that hadn't been possible.

She should have stuck to the truck drivers the way she normally did, at least with them she could be pretty certain about their occupation. When the man had become too creepy even for her relatively loose standards of the word, she had been forced to ditch him as quickly as possible. Sadly that had been a barely visited rest stop somewhere close to the small town Tualatin and she had been forced to take the next ride she could catch after hiding in the surrounding forests for a while to make sure the man had given up on her. He had been a bit too enthusiastic about have her working for him in his small bar. She had drawn her own conclusions.

Sure living on the streets got her into the kind of situations as the one she was in right now but at least she didn't have to obey anyone. At least she didn't have to be _good _or _deserving_. At least there were no standards she would always fail to meet. At least _they_ couldn't find her.

Luckily the second ride she caught had turned out to be quite decent. He had pestered her a bit about trying to go to some church organization that could get her off the street, but she had simply let him prattle on, nodded and smiled at appropriate intervals. In the end he had drop her off in front of the organizations main building and made her promise to talk to them. She hadn't had the heart to tell him that she didn't _want_ off the street. On the streets she was completely anonymous. There was no registry where she could pop up on. No one who would even know her last name and there were no pictures that could be posted on Facebook. It was the only way she could hide from _them_ and her fear of _them_ far outweighed her fear of anything else.

She could hear the men come closer and shuddered. If she could only risk getting involved in one of the groups of homeless around town it would give her some security in situations such as these, but she couldn't. At this point she was also so unkempt that she no longer dared go anyplace with a relatively high police presence. When you were too dirty to interest most men, but still clearly enough a young woman down on your luck, many officers could be counted on for help. The more one looked the part of rough sleeping drug abuser though, the more the men of the law became dangerous. They would harass you and accuse you of crimes you hadn't committed - or those you in fact had committed, but that was beside the point -, which of course led to records of her arrest; records she couldn't afford to appear in. Sometimes it made her yearn to become exactly what they claimed her to be. She had heard from others how the drugs could make you forget; make you happy even if just for a while.

It wasn't the logical fear of addiction that kept her from taking them though. No, addiction had long ago become nothing that frightened her. When you were desperate for so many things, what was one more to add to the list? It was the fear of _them_ finding her drugged and even more helpless that had kept her from even small amounts of alcohol. The idea that _they_ could find her and she wouldn't even have her wits about herself? She shuddered.

Right now though she wished she had something to take. Something that might make her not even remember what was about to happen. She wasn't stupid at this point being drugged probably wouldn't change what was about to happen anymore and there most likely wouldn't be a tomorrow left to worry about anymore anyways.

A hand gripped her leg and pulled her out of her small hiding place. The asphalt ripped her thin clothing even further and dug into her skin. She should have screamed, if not because of the pain then simply to maybe get someone to help her, but screaming wasn't a natural reaction for her anymore. You screamed when you wanted to be found and she didn't. No matter what else, she never wanted to be found again, not by anyone.

She could smell the alcohol from their mouths even as she kicked her legs and tried to turn away from them. "Stay away from me," She warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless, sadly it was anything but.

"Don't be like that, sugar," said one of the men, before the rest of them chuckled darkly.

She tried to clear her head, tried to remember everything Charlie - her cop father – had ever taught her about self-defense. One vicious kick got her other leg free and she managed to shakily get to her feet. She spread her legs to gain a secure stand and looked on determinedly. She wasn't going out without taking someone with her.

Before she had a chance to prove just exactly how tough she had become though headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hitting one of the men, forcing them to jump back toward the trash cans further behind as the road was too narrow to fit car, trash and humans.

She dove forward -this car was going to stop, or hit her. But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door opening almost directly in front of her.

"Get in," a furious voice commanded.

She wasn't sure why the voice seemed so familiar or even if she would be better off with this angry stranger in one car than with the four men outside, but she was willing to take her chances.

Jumping into the vehicle, she hurriedly pulled the door closed and held onto it as the car quickly backed out of the narrow alley and fishtailed onto the larger street in front of the bars main entrance.

She tried to steady her breathing before hesitantly looking at her assumed rescuer. She might as well not even have attempted to stuff her panic back into the small dark corner it normally resided in, as it jumped back at her as soon as she saw the driver's profile. It wasn't the clenched jaw or the fire in his eyes that frightened her though as he raced far above speed limit across the deserted streets. It was his white skin, his beauty and his careful handling of the steering wheel that terrified her and even though the dark brown eyes should have reassured her some, they only further confirmed what had saved her.

Vampire.

Most people never met even one, so why did she have such terrible luck? Why did she have to run into them at almost every turn? Why had he even thought to get her out of there?

"Put on your seatbelt," he commanded roughly and she realized that she had moved her death grip from the door to the seat. She quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the darkness. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing through several stop signs without a pause.

Had a human been driving she would have been terrified of the trash sure to come, but as it was she only felt mild concern of his obvious disregard for traffic rules. She returned to studying his beautiful features and felt pushed to ask him about his angry expression.

It might not have been the most well thought out question, but it was the only to come to her muddled brain and so she asked: "Are you okay?" Her voice was surprisingly hoarse, even though she hadn't screamed once.

"No," he said curtly, and his tone was livid.

She sat in silence, unsure what she was supposed to respond to that. What did one say to a vampire who had just rescued oneself from being raped and killed, who looked furious but had yet to voice the reason for his anger and most importantly who had yet to drink ones blood?

They were leaving town quickly and though she couldn't be certain she thought they were moving north towards Highway 5 which led to Seattle.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice tight, controlled.

"Yes." She replied and tried to clear her voice.

"Can you tell me your name?" Even though he was still obviously angry, he seemed to be attempting to lighten the mood.

She however hesitated to give out any personal information. Who knew who this vampire was, whom he worked for? But she couldn't simply refuse to answer and if he was working for them he would already know her name anyways.

"Bella."

"Bella." He repeated it as if it was a sacred word. "I have been looking all over for you, Bella. I'm very glad to have finally succeeded in finding you. "

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think I remember you, exactly?" she stuttered, unsure how to react to such a strange statement. She wasn't normally in the habit of forgetting indescribably beautiful vampires.

Somehow that seemed to amuse him to no end. "I suppose the poor lighting might have had something to do with that, Bella. "Tell them that I'm hoping the bear will bring more of a hard edge than the starting unit.""

"Oh." Well this was awkward; she of course remembered that stormy night - that night which had started all of her more pressing problems. She remembered the vampire crowded in darkness, tied to the floor by heavy chains as he explained whom to call for help. She supposed she was better off than in the hands of the others who wanted to find her, but he knew that she knew. He couldn't let her go now, so what would he do to her?

Besides that though, who was he anyways?

"I don't think I ever asked you for your name?"

He chuckled again despite his angry face. What was it about her that amused him to no end? "Edward. My name is Edward Cullen."

"It's nice to meet you Mister Cullen."

This time he broke out into a full, proper laugh, shaking stomach and all. The angry lines seemed to recede and he smiled at her gently for the first time. "It's very nice to meet you too, Bella, though there is really no need for the Mister Cullen. I was only twenty-one when I was turned."

"Oh. So Edward then?" Not that it made all that much sense to her. So what if he was physically twenty-one and she was twenty? He could have lived for centuries for all that she knew.

* * *

Hi,

Sorry, I know it has been too long since I updated. I'm afraid that for the time being my other story takes priority, which makes it a bit hard to keep up with this one… Sorry. I will try to do better from now on.

Some of might have notice, but part of this chapter comes straight from the original. I had to change around quite a bit though, which made announcing what was copied and what wasn't a bit hard. As such let me make it a bit more general. From shortly before Edward's appearance until the beginning of their proper conversation, especially the dialogues are in large parts copied.

One more thing: I won't make this into a poor abused, helpless victim Bella story that had everything possible bad in life happen to her, but I think that a woman alone on the streets for longer periods of times would by necessity make some harsh experiences.

I would love to hear what you all think,

Greetings Yorushike


	5. talks

"You should eat something," he informed her and she couldn't help but stare at him. Seriously? Did she look like she had anything to eat on her?

Suddenly she noticed the expensive car, the black leather seats and the smell that spoke of rather new vehicles. She didn't know much about car brands, but she could guess easily enough that this was not the cheap standard car; his clothing too seemed too well matched and fitting, the material obviously expensive despite being only a jeans and a t-shirt.

She became suddenly conscious of her own state. Her clothing was ill fitted, having been dragged out of one of those charity clothing bins. The old jeans were obviously intended for men and only a cord held them on her thin frame. The t-shirt, also far too big, was no better and had been ripped in the front quite badly by being dragged over the asphalt. The second, long sleeved shirt she wore underneath did nothing to improve her image as it was in no better condition than the t-shirt.

Her trainers had several rather obvious holes and when one looked closely it was possible to see her large left toe. Her socks weren't any better off than the rest. Although one would be hard pressed to explain her less than well-dressed state away as a fashion statement, the grime covering her made even any attempts impossible.

No, she was homeless and she appeared the part.

Would he be throwing up from the stench she was surely spreading everywhere? His new car soon wouldn't smell so pleasantly at all anymore. She ashamedly touched the spot on her left pant leg where a drunk had emptied his can of beer on her.

He hadn't shown it yet, but was he disgusted?

Normally that's how she liked it. She wanted men to be disgusted at her mere sight, wanted to run screaming from her, but right now she couldn't bear the idea of the beauty next to her to scrunch up his nose at her.

He seemed to have noticed her bad reaction to his comment though he seemed unsure of how to react to it. "You are probably going into shock and it really would be better if you had some sugar in your system when you do, some liquids too."

She simply continued to ignore him as she stared out of the window. To her surprise he took the next exit, which promised a diner at its end and parked in front of the mostly deserted building. "Come on, it'll be a long drive. At least have a soup and some juice, Bella."

Yeah, right. She scoffed in her head. As if they would serve someone like her without seeing cash up front. These places were rarely the cheapest and this one even looked rather clean, which would certainly only increase the price. She currently owned twelve cent.

Her companion though didn't seem to notice her obvious hesitation and actually went so far as to open her door for her. When had a guy last opened a door for her?

Rather, had a guy ever opened a door for her?

Maybe she had taken too long getting out, maybe he had noticed her hesitation after all and thought she would need some additional incentive to actually leave the warm confines of her seat?

It was rather cold out for October and she did her best to suppress a shiver. His jacket was shoved in her face, but she didn't touch it. He would have enough trouble getting her stench and dirt out of his car seat, no need to ruin his clothing as well. Reluctantly following him into the diner she was grateful to find no one but the bored owner as he watched some television while waiting for the next truck driver to stumble into his small establishment. He seemed almost disappointed to be disturbed.

With his back still turned to them he rumbled out a deep "evening", before refocusing on the screen.

Mister Cu… Edward shoved the menu in her face and looked at her expectantly. Gosh, this Vampire was confusing. She didn't even know what he wanted from her. His eyes spoke of his vegetarian habits so it couldn't be the hope for a quick snack. Besides, she would already be dead if that was his goal, but what other use did a vampire have for a human?

"Come on, Bella. Just a little bit? How about that tomato soup or the orange juice?"

She swallowed. Over three and a half dollars just for the fresh juice he was pointing out. Deciding she couldn't take the humiliating feeling of not having even two dollars to rub together any more she pulled out the twelve cent she had and pushed them at him over the table.

At first he seemed confused until he finally figured out what she couldn't voice. It was bad enough to admitting to her financial situation at all, there was no way she would actually admit it vocally, so she was glad when he seemed to get the hint, though he made no move to get up.

Instead he seemed to search for her eyes as she stared at the hands in her lap. Finally deciding she wouldn't raise them, he let a small sigh slip. "Don't worry about the bill, Bella. Really."

She was about to shake her head when he continued: "I owe you way more than an orange juice and some soup, believe me. Now what will it be? Are you going to order something or am I going to order whatever comes to mind? Just to warn you though, I'm not good with food, so I might just order everything since it's a lot easier than to be specific."

That he wouldn't be the one eating didn't need to be said. Deciding to take the path of least resistance she pointed at the potato soup and the normal, none fresh orange juice. At least that one was hallway affordable for normal people.

He seemed satisfied though not necessarily happy with her obviously cheap choices, but seemed to figure that it was more important to get anything into her at all.

When the older man finally separated from his television he didn't hide his disgust at her state and it was easy to tell what kind of conclusions about their relationship he made. Bella hunched her shoulders. She might have at times had no choice but to, well …, but she had never done anything of the kind for money or food. Always only to stay safe and although she doubted Edward would make advances on her, she didn't like the implications either.

She didn't seem to be the only one to dislike the implications though, because Edward suddenly seemed angry again and rounded on their host. "My cousin and I have had a very rough day and would appreciate it if we could get back on the road quickly."

Was he disturbed that people thought he would sleep with a whore, or was he trying to spare her the mortification? Somehow she couldn't imagine that claiming her as a cousin, a family member, could be any less embarrassing than admitting to pay for sex. So maybe it had been for her sake?

Suddenly she wanted to look more presentable, less dirty than she did. "I'll just go to the bathroom quickly?"

He looked at her for one second and nodded. "Sure, take your time."

Her attempts at cleaning up in the small sink had taken almost twenty minutes and she doubted she looked or smelled any better than before. Her hair was still a dirty, hopelessly tangled mess and although her face was now halfway clean it only allowed for the world to see her unhealthy coloring.

For spending as much time outside as she did she was still far too pale. You would think almost three years on the street would change that.

Edward looked up, when she left the restroom and smiled breathtakingly. "Hey, I almost thought you weren't coming back."

She couldn't help but turn slightly red, which only caused him to chuckle. "Your soup is getting cold and your juice warm."

She did her best to eat at a normal pace, forcing herself to count till ten in her head before taking the next sip. No sense in admitting just exactly how starved she really was. She was sure he would figure it out soon anyways, but she still had at least some pride and not showing others her weakness was one thing she definitely considered worthwhile the effort.

Once she was finished he gave her his car keys and told her to go ahead while he paid the bill. She had secretly hoped he would offer her another dish, since the soup had done little to stop the gnawing feeling in her stomach. Ironically she felt quite full, but couldn't help being hungry anyways. Well, she would certainly not ask for more.

Why had he wanted her to go first though?

When he finally joined her in the car he seemed angry again even though he smiled at her kindly. "Guess we better get going."

"Going where?"

"Sorry, I guess I should have said something before now. I figured it would be easiest to drive to Seattle for now and go from there. My family is in Missoula, Montana right now, but I called them while you were in the bathroom and they are leaving for Seattle right now."

"Could you not just let me out somewhere? I promise I won't mention your kind to anyone?"

The stare he gave her in reply made the stupidity of her question obvious. "If you can name even one place I can drop you off where you will be able to stay for a while until you get your feet back under - which isn't a shelter of some sort – I'll drive you there right now."

She dropped her eyes. Only a few years ago she would have named both her mother in Florida and her Father in Forks without a second thought, but now? Even if she was willing to risk their safety, she could never bear letting them see what she had become, so she shook her head ashamedly.

For the first time since they had met, the vampire tried to make some physical contact as he touched her hand so gently she wondered if she had felt it at all. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Bella, but you can't expect me to simply let you go back to that dark little hole you were hiding in."

"Why not?" She shouted, before clasping her hands over her mouth. Making the vampire that held her future in his hands mad at her? So not a good plan.

She could see how he was fighting for his composure, before answering: "Do you have any idea what would have happened to me if you hadn't called my family back then?"

Yeah right, because good deeds would be rewarded and bad ones punished, she wasn't a child anymore, hadn't been one in a long time.

"Besides, if it got out that we let a human who knows about us run around to tell the world about it we would be in all kind of trouble. I promise you, you will be well taken care off. No one will hurt you Bella. I know you barely know me, but what reason would I have to lie to you?"

So her choice was to either be his prisoners in chains or his prisoner in a golden cage? Bella wanted to cry. She had run for so long, avoiding the men she had been terrified of, but instead of them it had been actually someone she had helped that had finally caught her.

When she turned her eyes from her clasped hands to his face, he rocked back like he had been slapped. He could probably smell the fear on her. Supposedly fear had its own, very sweet odor.

* * *

Hi,

It's been forever, I know. I'm so so so sorry. I normally do not simply drop of the face of the earth for this long without at least a warning, especially not a new one like this, but RL had to come first so both my stories had to wait for a while. I apologize . I'm relocating (again!) and it's taking some time. I'll try to do better though.

How did you like this chapter? Their first proper meeting. Hope they don't feel too out of character.

Greetings Yorushike


	6. struggles

Ever since that night she hadn't left his mind for even one second. He could remember every last detail of her face, her too thin body and most of all her scent. Although he had taken as few breaths as possible, the song of her blood had kept him captivated ever since. He had thought it to only be his extreme hunger speaking, which made her so delicious to him, but he had been mistaken. As she sat in the car next to him he had a hard time controlling himself. While they were talking he had to breathe and with every breath it became worse. That combined with the thoughts of those perverts running through his mind over and over again had left him in a very bad mood indeed.

* * *

He had been trying to find her ever since his rescue. After she had left him in his prison, he had soon begun questioning, whether or not she would actually do as promised. Despite her assurance it had just seemed far too unlikely and when time passed without any change, he became certain she had simply hightailed out of there. But then, finally, movements could be heard above him once again. These feet though had been far quieter and even with the rain having stopped long ago it had been hard to make out anything at all. Vampire's had been the obvious conclusion. No one else moved with such efficiency while barely making a noise. "Something is down there all right and it's hungry!" He had heard Jasper think and never felt any more relived as the thoughts of the rest of his family had quickly followed. The large metal door his human friend had had such difficulties with, had been all too easy to lift for one of his kind and Emmett's oversized figure had soon looked down on him. It seemed they had been forewarned of his starved nature and to his surprise Alice had hauled a small deer down the trap door, shoving it straight in his face. The animal's feet had been bound together, so although the panic was easy to see in its desperate struggles, they were in vain.

Instinct had kicked in and the animal had been drained far faster than he would have liked. Sadly it had done little to fend off the hunger and he had turned to his sister, quietly admitting as much. If they had turned him loose then, they most likely still would have had a fight on them and the fresh blood wouldn't have made it any easier. She had only smiled at him though, as the first animal had been cast away and a second one had followed the first ones path.

His rescue had gone off without a hitch afterwards and he had learned how the young woman had indeed kept her every word. It had been the distance they had had to pass to get to him which had caused the delay.

* * *

He had looked for her ever since and not because of fear of the Volturi. His every instinct screamed for her, one half wishing to devour, the other to protect. To get his very first glimpse of her through the eyes of his attacker though had done nothing to help him keep calm. The desire to hurt them warred with his wish to see her safe and only her presence and innocent question had kept him from turning around once she was in his car. Her inquiry as to whether he was alright had finally snapped him out of it, allowing him to focus on her instead of on himself or them.

Now though, he almost wished he could turn his attention back to them or even himself as those wide, fearful eyes bore into his very soul. She was terrified and that hurt far more than anything else could have. It was irrational, of course she would be afraid of a vampire, but somehow the fact as to what he was hadn't seemed to bother her all that much. Instead it seemed to be what he said and did that frightened her.

His offer of food had started the disaster, making her ashamed of something out of her control, and the offer of help hadn't gone over any better. He hadn't meant to make it sound like she would be his prisoner, but it was clearly what she had understood. His mind had still been at the confrontation between him and the insolent waiter. Bella had felt awkward enough before his strange looks and his claim of her being a cousin hadn't been the most elegant cover up either, if he was honest. When he had confronted the older man, he had had the audacity to suggest he find someone else for the night since his current acquirement didn't seem to be the safest. If he only caught flees he would be lucky, the man had claimed. It had taken all his power to not simply rip him apart and that, together with his thirst for Bella's blood had made him forget whom he was talking to.

He shouldn't have told her about his family coming, the idea of being amongst even more vampires had to be frightening and he shouldn't have insinuated that she was alone, even if she was. Combined with making her feel like a prisoner he had said everything he should have most desperately avoided and now she was afraid _of him_ not because of what he was, but because of what he had _done_. How ironic.

To make matters even worse though, he had to address one more uncomfortable topic; he could only hope he didn't mess this one up as much as he had the others. "Bella?" He began hesitantly.

"Yes?" So much worry in just one word. He was suddenly glad that he couldn't read her mind, just her voice alone betrayed so many of her thoughts and none of them seemed to be especially positive.

"This is going to sound very – strange – but do you know if you smell especially good to all vampires?" She wouldn't think he was about to eat her, would she? Maybe he should have phrased it differently? What if she had no idea of how she smelled differently than others?

It seemed though as if his question wasn't unexpected, quite the opposite. "Yes, I do."

He wanted to know, how she knew so much about them, but decided he had done enough damage in under an hour. What kind of life had she led so far, smelling as she did? How much had his kind hurt her? How many times had she met them for her to know them as she did? "I'm sorry." He knew it was too little, too late, but she seemed to be satisfied.

He would have to talk to Carlisle. He had planned to meet them in Seattle soon, their family having been separated long enough. Now though, they would have to change their approach. If she was right and his desire to drink her blood wasn't just a personal taste, then they couldn't risk getting her anywhere near Jasper. It wasn't fair, but Jasper had always struggled more than the rest and he wasn't willing to risk her or him. His brother was having a hard enough time without any additional pressure, which meant he had to give a different reason than the truth to keep him away. Sadly the only one he could think of would be, if there was a chance that Bella wouldn't react well to any additional Vampires. That though would mean staying away from everyone in his family, at least for the time being. Not something he was looking forward to.

Well sometimes sacrifices had to be made. He would call Carlisle as soon as possible.

Maybe they could stay in one of their more remote houses. As afraid as Bella was, chances were she might try to run from him in the city and although he had no worries about her actually succeeding, he didn't want to add the trauma of what she would see as a failed escape attempt to everything else. Maybe she would learn to trust him over time? He really didn't mean to keep her captive, but he also couldn't let her continue living on the streets. Who knew what would happen to her? She was still so young and obviously all alone in the world.

He glanced over at his silent companion as they sped down the highway far above speed limit. She had sunk into herself, obviously dreaming together all sorts of horror scenarios. "Do you like hiking?" He could tell she thought his question to be rather random and in all honesty completely out of place, but he didn't know what else to say. He couldn't ask her about her past and he obviously didn't know enough about her to start a meaningful conversation.

To his surprise a moment later she chuckled lightly even as he could see the tears well up in her chestnut brown eyes. "Charlie always said I would kill myself one day, stumbling over thin air. I'm afraid I'm the worst clots you will ever meet."

"Oh." Charlie? A former boyfriend maybe?

Seemed he was no better at hiding his thoughts than she was: "Charlie was … _is_ my Dad. I haven't seen him in a long time."

That explained the tears along with the fond smile. It seemed he was utterly unable to keep the topic lighthearted though her mind had returned to the present as she quickly wiped away the moisture in her eyes and asked: "Can you tell me where we are going?"

"Of course." He had never been so grateful for such a simple question. "I thought we could go to Seattle and stay at a hotel there. I'm sure you are exhausted and it will give us some time to figure out where to go afterwards. My family has several houses along the west coast, so maybe we could stay in one of those for the time being, unless you have some other ideas?"

"So you don't have a job you need to get back to or something?" She was obviously searching for some form of additional information to understand him better, but Edward found he didn't mind one bit.

"Normally, all my family stays together somewhere and we either go to some form of Colleague or University or we work, yes. At the moment though things have been a bit hectic, so we are all taking a year off, supposedly to travel the world." He smiled slightly at the idea of a group of Vampires sitting in a plane for hours, tightly packed with a large group of humans, as they flew around the continents. Not very likely. Not that they couldn't fly, it just wasn't very high on their list of fun things to do.

"Oh. So we will be meeting your family, once they arrive in Seattle?" Her voice was almost completely expressionless as she stared out of the window into the darkness.

"Actually, it might be better if we waited a while longer with that." How should he explain it, so he wouldn't frighten her completely?

"Worried they are going to jump my bones?"

Was he really that obvious? If he could just look into her mind for a few minutes, just to get an idea as to what was going on inside of her. She didn't seem to be all that concerned about his families actions if they would meet, but maybe she was just a good actor?

"Most of them shouldn't have any problem, but I can't imagine you would be all that comfortable amongst more than half a dozen Vampires." She seemed surprised to hear of their numbers. Well, he guessed more than four Vampires in one Clan were rather a rarity.

"How many of you are there?"

"Including myself we are seven. Carlisle, who turned most of us, his wife Esme, Rosalie and Emmet and Alice and Jasper."

"So you are the only one without a partner? That's got to be tough, especially with super sensitive hearing."

He chuckled: "If I only had sensitive hearing, I would be fine."

"Really? So what else do you have, outside of super senses?"

So she knew Vampires could have special abilities? What had happened to her to know this much and still live? "I can hear what people think."

For a moment she seemed frightened before she got a grip of her emotions again and smiled: "You don't really think I believe that, now do you? You don't seem like you know what's going on in my mind at all."

"Another something, where you are the exception. You are the first person I have ever met, whom I can't read at all. I will easily admit, it's a very strange feeling."

He had no idea how she could have possibly interpreted that as anything negative – shouldn't she be relieved he couldn't hear her think? – but somehow she seemed to worry only all the more. Strange.

* * *

Hi,

This chapter will most likely be the last one from Edwars point of view for quite a while. Now it's Bellas time again. I had forgotten how hard it is to start a new story …

Would love to hear from you all,

Greetings Yorushike


	7. nerves

Yes, she hadn't said anything against his plan to stay in a hotel, no matter how much the idea of staying in one room with a man she barely knew frightened her. Yes, she had figured he wouldn't stop at one of the cheap motels, but did it really have to be the Four Seasons?

The oversized set of rooms did nothing to distract her from the fact that there was only one bed and the expensive pieces of art which were meant to serve as furniture only reminded her how dirty she really was. If she could simply sink into the ground and be gone forever she would be very grateful indeed.

"How about you choose something to eat and take a bath until room service comes and brings it?" The vampire asked. It might have been a reasonable suggestion, if the menu had contained any form of normal dishes for halfway affordable prices. Was it necessary to state how it obviously didn`t? Even if she had known any of these dishes or their fancy names, she would have never even considered ordering one of them. One meal here cost as much as a week in a decent hostel! Still, she could see – and hear as he let out a quiet sigh - how her host's patience was wearing thin and it wouldn't do for him to believe she was being difficult on purpose. Sometimes it was best to take the path of least resistance, although she had no idea what said path would be in this instance.

"I don't mean to be difficult, M… Edward, but besides being ridiculously expensive, I don't know what any of this is."

For a moment she thought he would call her stupid as he stared at her, before taking the menu from her and starting to laugh.

"Well excuse me for not staying in these kinds of hotels very often!" She exclaimed angrily. She might not want to make her host angry, but she had had about enough of being humiliated as she stood here in the foyer of this palace turned hotel room.

"No, sorry, that's not it," the Vampire chuckled. "I just realized I have no idea, what all this is supposed to be either. Are you in the mood for anything specific? Italian, French, Chinese…?"

She really didn't want to go out again though. No matter what else could be said about this hotel, one thing was certain, they knew how to be discreet. Edward had asked her to stay behind in the car, while he took care of the formalities and shortly after returned with a long coat, escorted by two butlers. They had taken her to a smaller side entrance and made sure no one else got into the elevator, until they had reached the highest floor and their current suit. The idea of going out there again though frightened her. This time around, people in the hotel would see her in her less than pleasant state and come to the same conclusion as the man in the restaurant. Even a shower wouldn't help much, not if she had to put the same clothes on again. "I don't need anything, really. I have just eaten the soup after all."

It obviously hadn't been the right reply, as the Vampire sighed once more. "Bella, the soup was three hours ago and not exactly a whole lot. Just tell me what you want to eat and don't worry about anything else."

First he suggests room service and makes sure I get here without anyone seeing me, just so he doesn't have to be embarrassed by my company and now he expects me to believe we can just go where ever I want to, to eat? Yeah, right. Bella mused. "Anything is good, really. I'm not a picky eater."

"Then how about you take a bath, while I order some Italian? You sure you don't want anything specific? Meat, Pizza, Pasta?"

If she didn't tell him anything, he would probably only become even more annoyed. Meat was generally expensive and pasta could be too, but a normal Pizza? "Pizza Margarita?"

Seemed like she had been right after all though, he really didn't want to be disgraced by being seen with her, why else would he have ordered in after all? Or maybe he just didn't feel like sitting around with her forever. He probably figured she couldn't even hold a decent conversation, thought her too stupid for holding down any kind of job. After all, it had been an act of utmost stupidity to help free a vampire, when he knew her scent and that she knew their precious secret! Sometimes she really wanted to curse herself.

He finally seemed to be satisfied though and pointed towards the sitting room. "I've got to make some phone calls. If you need anything just shout. There should be some bathing robes in the bathroom. The hotel said they would get something send over to wear for you as soon as possible."

There were a lot of things to be said about her current situations, but the only thing coming to mind at this point was heaven.

She had died and gone to heaven. The heat of her extensive bath or rather baths had let warmth sink into the very depths of her bones, leaving her mushy and tired and clean. She hadn't even realized she could get this clean anymore. No wonder the last few years had done nothing to darken her skin with as much grime as she had just scrubbed off of her. The oversized pizza had done the rest. She had no idea how Edward had managed to get her a pizza delivered to their Hotel room and not just any, but one which seemed to be the perfect mix of juicy tomato and creamy cheese and she honestly didn't care.

Right now she was warm, clean, full and comfortably stretched out on one of the designer seats with foot rests, which somehow managed to be extremely comfortable despite their expensive look.

Just proves that the claim only old coaches could be comfortable, was complete nonsense. Some concert was shown on the television and although she had no idea what the band was called or if they were any good, they served perfectly as a background for her gently floating mind. Not quite napping yet, she was sure it would be only another few minutes before the waves of sleep would gently carry her away.

"Hey, maybe you should go to bed, before you fall asleep here? Not that I would mind, but it might wreck your neck to sleep here." And _that_ was the reason why, despite everything, she wasn't asleep yet. _He_ was here, with his freaky ability to move without making a sound and his way too soft voice. As if she would go anywhere near the _only_ bed in this oversized suite. It might be a bit childish, the bed was quite large after all and if you were already staying in one hotel room with a guy you barely knew, then you might as well make the scandal complete; still, there was something adherently wrong about it and so she had pushed the thought from the forefront of her dreamy mind.

"I'll be fine right here. My back is quite strong, whether you believe it or not."

He looked at her with his "I'm not buying it" look, which she had gotten used to by now. He had had the same look on his face, during the whole dinner debacle or most any other conversation they had had so far. She almost felt bad for him. She wasn't lying to him on purpose. Well ok, she was, but not because she wanted to annoy him. Quite the opposite actually: Annoying him was the last thing she wanted to do, but wasn't it his fault anyways for asking all those difficult questions and doing whatever he wanted?

Well no matter what he might think, she was quite comfortable right where she was and the only thing disturbing her gentle perfection was him. "If you think I'm going to sleep in that bed together with you, you are very much mistaken. So just leave me where I am. Believe it or not, I have slept in worse places."

She should have foreseen it, really. Since they had met had he ever taken her word for anything? No, he hadn't. Maybe some of her responses hadn't been the most logic inspired, but still. Wasn't she an adult? If his actions where anything to go by, he clearly thought she wasn't. Again with the not listening. He might of course be right once more as well, she wasn't quite twenty-one yet - almost, but not yet- but hey, who was counting?

Since she should have foreseen his next actions, she really wouldn't have needed to scream when he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, but scream she did.

Ironically this seemed to startle him almost as much as he had startled her and for a split second she thought he was going to drop her, but before she even had the chance to reach out for him, he had regained control of himself. "I guess I expected you to know, since you know so much else about us, but we don't sleep, Bella. We can't. In consequence I have no use for the bed and you are more than welcome to keep it all to yourself."

She stared at him. They didn't sleep? Seriously? She had enough trouble dealing with the daily craziness of her life and that was with at least six hours of sleep a night – or rather day, she just felt safer when it was light – and she wasn't a vegetarian vampire living with a whole bunch of other, just as self-torturing beings whose minds she could read. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

At the very least he came equipped with both super human strength and speed so her involuntary stay in his arms didn't last much longer, before being gently deposited on the bed and covered with blankets. She had to at least give him brownie points for trying, Bella mused.

"Good night. If there is anything you need…"

"Just call. I got it, I got it. Hope you have fun till tomorrow." As soon as he closed the door behind him, she got up and locked it. It might be paranoid and completely ineffective against a Vampire, but at least she would get a bit of warning before he reached her.

Since he didn't protest the sound of the lock, she figured he was fine with it.

* * *

Hi,

Well the next chapter though it's pretty short. It was the best breaking point I could find though… sorry…. I'll try to be quicker with the next update….

Other than that not much happened here, they are starting to get to know each other at least a little bit, which will take some time even if it isn't as exciting.

I would love to hear from you!

Greetings Yorushike


	8. shopping

The next morning she was greeted by a gentle nock on the door and the smell of eggs and coffee. Somewhere in the twilight of sleeping and waking, she mused that she had finally found a decent boyfriend, who knew how to spoil a woman. The spoil though had quickly gotten her back on track and a moan escaped her throat. She hadn't found anything, he had found her after all and he most certainly was no boyfriend.

Breakfast had none the less been pleasant as he had seemed satisfied with watching her eat, but once she had finished and the dishes been cleared away, his mood had changed and she had instinctively realized that it was time to lay down the rules, so to speak. How she hated the very idea of learning of her new 'place'.

"I figured it might be better if we got out of town sometime soon, Bella. Is there anywhere specific you would like to go? We have several houses, but if you would prefer going somewhere else?"

It was obvious he wanted to draw her into the process of deciding where her prison would be, as if that would make it any less of a prison. She supposed she should be grateful, things could be a great deal worse after all. "Anywhere is fine."

What did it matter where she was if she would never be allowed anywhere anyways? What was the sense if she would have to ask to go out at all? And besides, they would end up going wherever he wanted to go anyways. That was the way it had always been, the way it would always be. No one would ever turn differently because of her. She had learned that long ago.

Renee, as much as she loved her, hadn't become a mother by giving birth to her, hadn't somehow learned responsibility because of the child in her arms. Even ten years later, when Bella had long since learned the meaning of the word, Renee had still managed to escape it completely. Somewhere deep down Bella had always figured the day would come where her wayward living style and her daughter didn't fit together anymore and had preferred to go instead of forcing her mother into something she had avoided all her life long.

Maybe, hidden in the darkest recesses of her mind somewhere she had hoped her mother would just this once see the bigger picture or that she would simply choose Bella over Phil. She didn't have anything against Phil, but it would have been nice to be the center of the universe for at least one person in the world.

Her father, as much as he had tried hadn't been much different. Oh, he had been far more responsible, had actually been a parent with rules to follow and expectations to be met, but they hadn't really known each other much when she came to Forks. Even after living with him for five years she had had little to say to him, no common interests. She felt more like she could depend on him, more like he would be there if she needed him than her mother but still. She supposed it was partially her fault as well: She had left him and Jacob behind after all, not the other way around.

She had felt responsible for them, just as she had felt for her mother and different from her mother she hadn't been able to let them repeat her own mistake.

How ironic.

"Bella, please. Don't make this any harder than it has to be. Do you prefer warmer or colder weather? Do you like the sea? Would you prefer living in a village or a town?"

She sighed. He most likely wouldn't stop pestering her until she gave some form of response. Whenever it was warm and sunny she wanted to go outside and enjoy the weather, so warm was definitely out. Besides, vampires couldn't go out amongst humans in the sun, right? Something about being recognizable in the sun so if she ever wanted him to leave somewhere cloudy would be good.

"Somewhere around North America should be good, but not close to the sea. I don't like it and it's always so windy anywhere near it." A complete lie, but who cared? She couldn't risk staying anywhere near Forks and this would take care of it. After all, Forks was quite close to the sea and at times very windy.

"All right, then how about Drummond?"

She had never even heard the town's name but that suited her just fine. At least it wasn't anywhere close to Forks. "Sounds good." She muttered.

She could tell he wasn't very happy with that response either. "You don't even know in which state Drummond is, do you?"

She wished she could bite her nails; it always seemed to calm her down. She wasn't crazy enough though to show that kind of a weakness in front of the vampire. "Does it really matter, where you decide would be a good place?"

"It might make things nicer for you. You know, it could actually be enjoyable for you if you wanted it to be. But if you don't give it a chance from the very start, then it definitely will be unpleasant." In other words: Get your act together or live with the consequences. Great.

He sighed and continued: "It's a pretty small town in Montana with only around 300 inhabitants, but it's not too far from Missoula. We have a cottage there, which we like to use as a base for weekend hunts. It should do nicely for just the two of us."

"Ok."

"Oh, before I forget." With his incredible speed he left the room only to return shortly afterwards with several large bags in his hands. "I hope these fit. We will get you something better soon, but at least they are clean."

At least they were clean was quite the understatement, but she wasn't going to argue with him, not now. She simply felt drained. They were gorgeous and if she still weighed her normal 115 pounds they would have fit perfectly. As it was they were quite wide, but she supposed most anything would be wide on her now. They hid her rather starved figure well though. No need for anyone to think she had eating disabilities on top of everything else.

She didn't feel like she could ever live in clothes like these though. Didn't think she would ever feel comfortable in them. They were nothing out of the ordinary if one ignored the materials and the brand names: Just a pair of Jeans, a T-Shirt and a trendy sweeter. To her though they felt wrong, they weren't her. She was the girl in the cheap, boring clothes you could by anywhere for just a few dollars, driving an old truck which was louder than any radio and was happy that way. The little money she had had she had invested in other things, like books and gas to get to the larger towns. Or saved for college, well that dream had died spectacularly.

Even though life with Charlie had at times been hard, it had been her life. A life she had formed and in return been formed by and even though she hadn't always been the happiest there, she had been safe and comfortable and free.

Now she wasn't and these clothes would always make that much clear.

When getting ready to leave the hotel, she had insisted to take her old clothes along, despite her keeper's obvious distaste for them. They would always remind her that she had been free before and one day she would be again. She would make sure of it.

"We should really go shopping before we leave Seattle, there isn't much in Drummond and we will need food and clothing for you."

Since he knew she had no money, he was obviously expecting to pay for any purchases. However, although she liked the idea of regular meals, she didn't want to appear expensive. "I don't need much." She understood that her keeper would insist on at least getting some food and probably things like clothes and some hygiene articles. It would be hard getting used to such comforts again only to have them taken away later though.

"Well you can't wear the same things all the time and we need food for you as well. Where do you normally like to shop? Any specific brand you like? What kind of food do you eat a lot? Do you like to cook or do you prefer to just warm stuff up?"

What kind of brands? Her store of choice had generally been Walmart or something of equal standing. She wasn't even sure she remembered many brand names. Sometimes Angela and Jessica had dragged her out shopping, but she had rarely been able to provide good advice and it had generally been the girls showing clothes onto her, telling her to try them on. She had oftentimes been grateful for their advice, but it had been such a long time, she had forgotten almost everything they had ever told her. Food definitely seemed the safer topic. "I eat almost anything and used to cook for Charlie all the time. If you have kitchen utensils, we can just stop at a supermarket along the way and I should be able to get everything I will need in the next few weeks really quickly."

"Anything you would find in a normal kitchen should be in the cabin. We don't cook, obviously, but we like to keep up appearances. There are some stores in the area as well, so it won't be any problem to restock, but their choices are more limited so if there's anything a bit more unusual you like, you should get some here. Is there anything you would like to eat that won't be available at a normal, larger supermarket? An import store you normally like to go to? Any specific alcohol you like that will be hard to get? Wine?"

How rich were they, if he suggested import or other specialty stores for her? She lived on the streets for heaven's sake!

"No, not really. Just a normal supermarket will be perfect." Luckily he seemed satisfied to finally get some form of information from her and didn't ask about clothing or brands again. Maybe he had figured out her discomfort at such topics. He finally stopped a short while later at Coop, quickly parking and opening the door for her. She had been unsure if she should simply get out of the car, or if he might misinterpret it as an attempt to get away from him and had preferred waiting to see what he would do.

Once they were inside the super market, she couldn't help but stare at the fresh fruits and vegetables display that was generally placed at the entrance area. Frozen vegetables would serve just fine, but it had been a long time since she had had anything really fresh that wasn't long past it's prime. Soup kitchens and the shelters normally offered only what would fill a great number of people for little money. Sometimes old fruits would be handed out for free, but anything still halfway decent was generally gone quickly.

She must have been slowing down or wearing a longing expression when passing the apples, because the beautiful man next to her stopped and asked: "You like apples?"

Since she was a terrible liar, she simply nodded. She liked almost anything in this section, but she didn't need it.

"Well what is your favorite kind? How many do you want?"

She stared at him, but somehow she thought any claims of not wanting or needing any would only make him mad and with everything else she would need would a few apples really tip the scale that much? Besides, they looked good! She gently picked two juicy, red once out, putting them gently into their cart. To her surprise Edward grabbed two more, adding them to the cart.

She was about to protest, when he gently murmured: "You are far too light for you size as it is, Bella. If you like apples, there should always be some around." She could hear the unspoken _for you_.

Since then shopping had turned into a strange kind of dance. Whenever she saw something she really wanted, she would slow down and look at it and the vampire seemed to find great pleasure in first getting her to put some in the cart only to double the number of whatever she had taken afterwards. At first she had almost been annoyed again that he didn't even trust her judgement when it came to how much food she would need, but he seemed so inordinately pleased with himself as the carts contents grew that she couldn't stay angry for long. Only the isle with female hygiene articles he stayed out of, giving her the privacy to make her choices alone - without his meddling.

The more daring she grew in her choices the happier he seemed. What a strange man indeed. When she had chosen one of the more expensive brand toilet papers since it was her favorite type, he began grinning outright.

In the end they had two fully stocked carts and although the bill amounted to somewhere above 150$ her companion didn't even blink. Well, she supposed, her clothes had probably been quite a bit more expensive. A few years ago it might not have seemed so much to her - she could remember spending quite a bit on groceries when she had still been living with Charlie - but now it seemed like a great deal of money.

Now that the groceries where out of the way though she could guess the conversation would return to her need for clothes and she began squirming uncomfortably. He seemed to sense her unease and the easy grin he had worn at the end of their shopping spree disappeared. "Everything all right?" He asked slightly hesitantly.

"Yes, thank you." She whispered gently. "The groceries are great, thank you."

He seemed taken aback but nodded: "Don't worry about it. If you need anything at all, just tell me."

She wasn't sure how to respond but smiled gently, which seemed to satisfy him for the time being.

"Now about clothing," she had really hoped he had forgotten.

"I don't need …"

"Bella, please. You need something to wear unless you prefer running around naked all the time and one set really won't be enough."

She almost responded by telling him she had two outfits, but caught herself beforehand. They had finally settled into a somewhat comfortable state, there really was no sense in destroying that. "Maybe we could stop at a Walmart to get a few basics?"

He obviously wasn't happy with her suggestion, but seemed just as hesitant to upset her. "Are you sure you want to go to Walmart? How about a mall?"

"I'm not really into shopping …" she replied hesitantly. Would he be offended or drag her to a shopping center anyways?

She wasn't sure if he could hear the sincerity in her voice or if he wanted to keep the peace between them as much as she did, but he agreed gently: "All right, if you don't want to then I guess we will stop a Walmart. If you ever change your mind though, I'd be happy to get you anything you want."

She nodded, but he seemed to understand quite easily that she would never ask him to get her anything. She might have no choice, but to let him control her life at the moment, but she refused to become a dependent any more than she had to.

* * *

Hi,

Wow… It has been FOREVER since I updated. Why, you ask? RL and Jasmine have taken up all of my time. I will try to do better though. Promise!

I would love to hear what you think,

Greetings Yorushike


	9. settling

He had called it a cabin, but Bella was pretty sure that cabin was the last word she would have used to describe the small villa quite a ways outside of Drummond. The modern house with its large windows and slightly overgrown lawn had obviously not been visited in quite a while. The furniture was covered by sheets and dust had settled everywhere. The windows too refused to let much light in, as the grime had darkened the glass.

The vampire seemed embarrassed by the state of the house, but it somehow relaxed her to see something imperfect. Until this point everything belonging to him had been nothing short of the best of the best and though the house - once clean - would certainly be the same for the time being it seemed less.

It was also a relief to see that Vampires did not live in dark dungeons as rumours would have it. Although Edward had been surprised by how much she knew, her knowledge was actually a great deal more select than she would have liked. Most of what she knew, she knew from hearsay and such tales rarely gave information about a Vampires daily life.

He led her to a room which he claimed was his sisters. It was certainly stylish and a great deal of love for detail seemed to have gone into the rather girly room. Little lamps could be found hanging from the ceiling and placed in the bookshelves, of which there were rather few. One side of the room was dominated by a large bed, while the others largest feature was a double door. Seeing her stare at the doors, Edward stepped forward, opening them with a quiet click.

"It's a walk in closet, but I'm afraid we might have to clean it out a bit first before you can put your own things in." Ruefully, he added: "Alice rather likes to shop."

Bella slowly moved closer, glancing into the closet, which turned out to be almost as large as the room and was filled to the brim with clothing. She had no idea about styles, but judging from the state of the house no one had been here in at least a few years, if not longer. Why would anyone leave a full wardrobe - rather ten full wardrobes - behind in a house they weren't planning to come back to any time soon?

"She always claims that it's a bad sign to bring old clothes into a new house, but at the same time refuses to throw them away, since she has barely worn any of the clothes she has. She claims it would be a waste and that she could wear them again once they come back into style. Somehow that never really happens though. Something is always wrong with them giving her an excuse to buy new things."

"Oh." Her meagre collection of five T-Shirts, socks, pairs of underwear and two jeans would truly look pathetic next to the expansive and expensive collection and she had only gotten so much at the Vampires insistence.

"Are you hungry?" What was it with him and food? After their short excursion to Walmart he had insisted on getting her something for lunch and an early dinner on the road. Now, when it was close to midnight he was asking again! "I'm afraid the kitchen is probably in no better condition than the rest of the house. I had forgotten how long it has been since we last stayed here. Maybe we should stay in one of the motels close to town for a few days. I have an appointment tomorrow which I shouldn't miss and it doesn't feel right to leave you in this mess."

"Oh no, it's fine. I don't mind cleaning things up a bit and I can just eat some bread with eggs and sausages tomorrow morning, I had a large dinner after all."

He seemed to still dislike the idea, but finally caved in. She was surprised that he would leave her alone this quickly though. They had barely met and she would have figured he would keep her under close watch for a while until he was certain she wouldn't attempt anything. He was probably rather sure though that she wouldn't be able to try anything. He would be taking the only car and they were too far out of town to get there on foot. The telephone was probably still disconnected as well and she had yet to see a computer in the house. They probably vacated the house before such devices became widely popular. Well at least it would give her some time to sort herself out.

The next morning the Vampire left the house before she woke and she couldn't claim to be sad about it. Before going to bed he had asked her over and over again, if she would be all right on her own and had even given her a cell phone. It was an older model, but it had his number saved on speed dial - in case she needed him. He had said something about having to meet the family to discuss the next weeks. She hoped that it meant that they hadn't come up to Seattle as seemed to have been the plan originally. She didn't want them there. If they came too close to Forks… There were so few of them left as it was. So many had died because of her - because they had protected her when no one else would or could have. If they met a vampire with her smell on him, who knew what kind of conclusions they would draw? At least they rarely left their reservoir so they should never even meet.

She spent the time on her own cleaning home although her keeper had already done quite a bit of the work, having vacuumed the floors and removed the covers from the furniture. She cleaned the windows, dusted and aired out the house. The repetitive work kept her hands busy without taking up her concentration, allowing her to think properly for the first time since the sudden twist in her fate.

The foremost question on her mind was why. Why was the vampire going through such obvious effort to make her comfortable? Why was he letting her live at all? Why were they vegetarians?

What did he want from her?

She had known for years that she would be a primary target for any and every vampire around, her blood making her into the perfect prey. It wouldn't have surprised her if even a vegetarian vampire had used her as a snack, but somehow he didn't seem to be all that interested in her blood. Otherwise she would already be dead. In the beginning she had thought that maybe he knew what she was and was keeping her for possible uses, after all someone immune to almost all special abilities could be very handy depending on one's enemies. Still, he had seemed far too surprised to hear her admit that she smelled great to everyone and not just him. He had probably thought it to be only a personal preference perhaps caused by their first meeting.

Since he knew that she was immune to his gift, how long would it take him to figure out that she was immune to others as well? How long until he would think about the why? What would he do to her once he understood just exactly she was? No longer human, but not one of them either.

It had been one of the reasons why she had left Forks. Although Jake had tried hard to keep the whispers to a minimum and her cleared of any suspicions, she had still heard them talk about her unnaturalness at times. Several underhanded threats had been made towards her, when her then best friend hadn't been watching.

One way or another though, she wanted to know why he was helping her. If not for her abilities or her blood, what other reason could a single, obviously old and settled Vampire want with a twenty year old girl? Yes, they couldn't let her roam free when she knew about them, though she had a feeling that the old order had grown weaker over the years, but keeping her until she died naturally didn't make much sense either; especially not if the rest of the family wouldn't be able to control themselves in her presence. A stable vampire clan, especially one as large as Edward had described was a rare gift, making them incredibly safe from any harm. No halfway sensible vampire would risk such a binding. Then again nobody could really claim not drinking human blood as a vampire to be the most sensible of decisions.

Her musings where abruptly interrupted by a noise outside. She quickly glanced at the clock, it was eight o'clock, the Vampire had said he wouldn't be home before ten at the earliest. Maybe he had lied to see if she would do anything untoward in his absence, but he would certainly not announce himself by stumbling around noisily if that were the case. She knew from experience just how quietly his kind could move if they wanted to.

For a moment the thought which had hunted her for the past years came back: "What if they had found her?" It was quickly dismissed though. If it was them, then they would not approach another's territory during his absence, especially not if said other came from as powerful a clan as he claimed to be.

She listened once more to the light shuffling noise and slowly moved towards the window which seemed closest to the noise. As she peeked outside, she almost had to laugh at her own fearfulness. A fox from the forest had found its way into the garden and was moving along the stony path, making low shuffling noises whenever moving along the uneven ground, obviously not stalking any prey at the moment.

None the less she was almost glad when, two and a half hours later the rumbling of a car announced the vampires return. She hadn't realized just how exposed she felt out here in the unknown area. In the large cities, even though she knew no human would be able to help her and that humans could be quite a threat, she had felt somehow safer. The arrival of any vampire at all should have set her nerves on fire, but somehow it didn't. At least not as much as it should.

What a strange world.

She slept uneasily that night though, tossing and turning between dreams of fangs and claws and coldness and heat and running. Lots and lots of running.

The next morning she was once again greeted by the smell of coffee. Besides making coffee though he hadn't managed anything but putting out the toast. He stood in the kitchen, smiling ruefully when he saw her coming through the door. "Sorry," he announced in the gently whispering wind, which served as his voice: "I'm afraid I don't know how to cook. When I was still human, men generally didn't and afterwards no one saw any necessity in teaching me."

"It's fine. Actually just coffee is great! I'll whip something together once I've had a cup. How come you know how to use a coffee machine though, if you don't know how to cook?"

"Oh, I sometimes work as a lawyer. If I didn't know how to make coffee no one would ever believe me when I show them my certificates. Somehow people seem to think the only way to achieve halfway decent grades in law school is with a rather large quantity of caffeine in your blood. Can't say I would agree, but with as much as we stand out without doing anything unusual, imagine the mayhem if I weren't constantly seen with a cup of the brown drink. We can't really afford additional suspicion and it's not like using a coffee maker is rocket science."

"Not as long as you don't have two left feet." Mumbled Bella in return, forgetting the vampires supernatural hearing.

"What do you mean?"

She flushed red and tried to hide behind her steaming hot mug. "I may have had a mishap or two involving boiling hot liquids and cables…"

He seemed to consider the matter for a moment before deciding that not knowing would be better for his sanity – or maybe he simply meant to spare her the indignity of having to recount an obviously highly embarrassing story.

Trying to quickly change the subject she asked, pointing at the freshly brewed liquid gold: "How did you know I was about to come down anyways?"

This time it was his turn to be shuffling embarrassedly. If vampires had had any blood to turn red with, she was certain he would be wearing a pretty flush right about now. "A person's heartbeat and breathing normally changes before they wake up, so if we pay attention we can tell when a person is about to wake up. I didn't mean to spy on you or anything, but the house and its surroundings are rather quiet."

"It's fine. I don't mind, especially when it means I can get hot coffee first thing in the morning." She almost would have admitted to being used to supernatural hearing from her companions, but quickly bit on her tongue; No sense in letting him know more about her and her past than necessary.

As she began preparing her breakfast, she noticed him watching her intently and finally asked him rather brashly: "Do you need anything?"

"Not really, no. I was just wondering, what you wanted to do today? I finished housecleaning tonight, so I was wondering if you wanted to play a game or go outside for a walk?"

He almost seemed hesitant to ask her, as if she might bite off his nose at the mere suggestion of doing something together.

Hi,

Thanks for your reviews! I'm afraid not a whole lot happened in this chapter, but that will change soon. Thank the holidays for giving me a chance to actually work on this story a bit .

I would love to hear what you think! Greetings

Yorushike


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